The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-07-16
ARE CROWS USEFUL.
RxcAAnm.


 The farmers have never disputed the intelligence of the crow, They know that he finds out very promptly where and when the corn has been planted, and that, if time enough is given him, he sees through all the scarecrows that the farmers ingenuity l can device. He Is generally too wary to be caught, and, if one of his species Is trapped, the rest of the flock avoid the spot thereafter. He knows where to hide his nest, and where to keep safely out of the way of boys stones and shot guns; and yet he is always visible about the fields, and often, tho farmer thinks, very much In tho way.
 In the extreme cold weather tho crow Is nowhere to he seen, and the farmer, whose corn he Is to pull up later on, might perhaps imagine that he had frozen to death. But bright, mild day brings him and all his family out, cawing noisily in tho trce- tops. Where he has been, nobody seems to know, but there he Is now, apparently as fresh and comfortable as if there were no zero mark on tho thcrmome- ter.
 In the spring, all through the pleas ant March and early April weather, the crows come sweeping down to the meadows every day, generally in pairs, the crow and his wife together, looking for such scraps as they can pick up, and, if there Is tidc- strcam flowing through the meadow, helping to keep the high~tidc margin clear of dead fish or any other matter fit for a crow to eat.
 Presently, instead of the crows to- gether, you may see one coming down singly, apparently in good deal of a hurry, and not at all noisy. You may watch every day. and, unless there happens to be flock, you will find that cruw comes down alone.
 Where Is his companionp It Is a simple matter. There Is nest back in the woods, with eggs In 1t, and the crow and his wife take turns In going down to the meadow to see what they can pick up.
 It would puzzle you to find the nest, however, for, watch never 80 closely, the chances arc two to one that the wary crow, on his way back, will contrive to throw you off the track.
 'Taint no use O talkin'," said an old farmer once. "lf we folks under stood our business an tended to 1t as well as the crows do their'n, there wouldn't be no paupers amongst us."
 But the crows business often comes 1 into conflict with the farmers, In the opinion of the great majority of hus- bandmen. One Vermont farmer, how ever, Mir. NJ. W. Davis, maintains, with show of reason, that the crow is his friend.
 Instead of putting up scarccrows to keep the bird away, Mir. Davis takes him into partnership on his farm, in- viting him to his field by scattering kernels of corn on the ground when the young corn is planted or growing. If the crow can find grains of corn lying on the surface of the ground, he will pick it up rather than dig up the planted kernels; and when he has picked it up, he will vary his diet by eating the grubs that often destroy whole acres of corn, cut-worms, grass hoppers, and potato bugs.
 In this way Mir. Davis believes that the crow saves him n great deal more than the value of the corn he gives him, to say nothing of the time and trouble that 1t would take to re- plant what the crows would other wise pull up.
 This is the crows side of the case. The hungry bird, condemned long ago by the universal judgment of the farmers, may be said to have been granted new trial upon Mir. Davis petition in his behalf The Vermont farmers have taken up the case, and one of their number, writing in the Rurai Ve,monter, says he has tried Mir. Davis' method.
 "If pulling up the corn were the crows only fault" he says, T should bc in favor of sowing corn on the field, rather than set up scarecrows to keep them off," He thinks that the crow Is a bad partner, however, be- cause, in tine course of his work about the farm, he breaks up the robins and sparrowS nests, who would kill a great many more worms If left alone than the crow possibly could. This farmer says
 "From the time that the birds be- gin to lay their eggs, the crow makes 1t his main business to hunt for and destroy them. He will gobble up the eggs, or carry away the young birds to feed his own young.
 "T'he crows come into our shade trees near our dwellings, early In the morning, before any one is stirring, and elem out the nests of all the rob- ins uriolf.s and the rnnzf 61,nxuicuaIIa